Notice of Modification to the List of 
Permitted Sweeteners  to Extend  the 
Use of Acesulfame Potassium to Soup 
Bases and Various Sauces  
 
Notice of Modification  – Lists of Permitted Food 
Additives  
Reference Number: NOM/ADM-0185 
June  20, 2022 
 Notice of Modification to t he List of Permitte d Sweeteners  to Extend  the Use of Acesulfame Potassium to Soup Bases and Various 
Sauces  – Reference Number : NOM/ADM -0185| 2 
 Summary  
Food additives are regulated in Canada under Marketing Authorizations  (MAs) issued by the Minister of 
Health and the Food and Drug Regulations  (Regulations) . Approved food additives and their permitted 
conditions of use are set out in the Lists of Per mitted Food Additives  that are incorporated by reference in 
the MAs and published on the Canada.ca website. A petitioner can request that Health Canada approve a 
new additive , a new source  or a new condition of use for an already approved food additive by filing a food 
additive submission with the Department's Food Directorate. Health Canada uses this premarket approval 
process to determine whether the scientific data support the safety of food additives when used under 
specified conditions in foods sold in  Canada.  
Health Canada’s Food Directorate received a food additive submission seeking approval for the use of  
acesulfame potassium as a sweetener in hot pot soup bases , various sauces  such as soy sauce, sweet chili 
sauce, Hoisin sauce, Sriracha sauce, barb eque sauce, and sauce packs that come with instant noodle 
products . The requested  maximum level of use is 500 parts per million  (ppm ) for all products of interest .  
Acesulfame potassium  is already permitted for use as a sweetener  in a variety of foods at maximum level s 
ranging  from  70 ppm in canned fruits to 5,000 ppm  in chewing gum , and consistent with Good Manufacturing 
Practice in table -top sweeteners . 
 
The results of the Food Directorate’s evaluation of available scientific data support the safety of acesulfame 
potassium in soup bases and various sauces.  Therefore, Health Canada has modified the List of Permitted 
Sweeteners  to extend the use of  acesulfame potassium  by adding the entry shown below to the list .  
 
Modification to the List of Permitted Sweeteners  
Item 
No. Column 1  
Additive  Column 2  
Permitted in or Upon  Column 3  
Maximum Level of Use and 
Other Conditions  
A.01  Acesulfame 
potassium  (13) 
Barbeque sauces; C hili sauces; 
Soup bases; Soybean sauces  (13) 
500 p.p.m . 
Rationale  
Health Canada’s Food Directorate completed a premarket safet y assessment of acesulfame potassium for use 
as a sweetener in the foods requested by the petitioner . The Department  conclud ed that information related 
to allergenicity, chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, and toxicology supports the safety of acesulfame 
potassium  for its requested uses . Therefore, the Department has enabled the requested uses of  acesulfame 
potassium  by adding to the  List of Permitted Sweeteners  the new entr y shown  in the above table.  
Other Relevant Information  
Food additives and other ingredients generally must be declared in the list of ingredients on the label of pre -
packaged foods sold in Canada. Barbeque sauces, c hili type sauces , soup bases and s oybean sauces  
containing  acesulfame potassium will need to have the acesulfame potassium declared in the list of Notice of Modification to t he List of Permitte d Sweeteners  to Extend  the Use of Acesulfame Potassium to Soup Bases and Various 
Sauces  – Reference Number : NOM/ADM -0185| 3 
 ingredients. This will alert individuals following a low potassium diet to the presence of the additive in this 
food. Manufacturers who use acesulfame potass ium should  make nutrition information available for foods 
containing this additive that may not be pre -packaged when sold (e.g., food that is prepared  in a grocery 
store for sale from one of its specialty counter). 
Food additives such as acesulfame potassi um are required to meet food -grade specifications set out in Part B 
of the Regulations , where such specifications exist,  or those set out in the  most recent  edition of the  Food 
Chemicals Codex  or the Combined Compendium of Food Additive Specifications . The Food Chemicals Codex  is 
a compendium of standards for purity and identity for food ingredients, including food additives, published 
by the United States Pharmacopeial Convention. Specifications in the  Combined Compendium of Food 
Additive Specificatio ns are prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and 
published by the Food and Agriculture Orga nization of the United Nations.  
Implementation and Enforcement  
The above modification came into force June 20, 2022 the day it was published in the List of Permitted  
Sweeteners . 
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Act and its 
associated regulations with respect to foods.   
Contact Information  
Health Canada's Food Directorate is committed to reviewing new scientific informati on on the safety in use of 
any permitted  food additive, including acesulfame potassium.  Anyone wishing to submit an inquiry or new 
scientific information on the use of this additive may do so in writing, by regular mail or electronically.  If you 
wish to c ontact the Food Directorate electronically, please use the words " acesulfame potassium  (NOM -
0185)" in the subject line of your e -mail.  
Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate  
251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway  
Tunney’s Pasture, PL: 2202C  
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9  
E-mail: bcs-bipc@hc -sc.gc.ca